I am not a Grumpy Old Man
I am a middle aged man who occasionally gets slightly hacked off with things.
My politics are greenish and to the left of centre.
I am married again, following being widowed. I own two bikes, one car, one campervan and half a cat.
I love cycling (hence the bikes) and cycle sport especially road racing. During the winter I enjoy watching football (soccer if you are North American). I sometimes paint and enjoy cooking and eating.
It has been a long time since I last posted, partly due to work pressure, but mainly because there has been a lot of other stuff going on that has taken up my time. Anyway, to get myself back into the groove, here is a video that I found fascinating.
This is how it works:
The period of one complete cycle of the dance is 60 seconds. The length of the longest pendulum has been adjusted so that it executes 51 oscillations in this 60 second period. The length of each successive shorter pendulum is carefully adjusted so that it executes one additional oscillation in this period. Thus, the 15th pendulum (shortest) undergoes 65 oscillations. When all 15 pendulums are started together, they quickly fall out of sync—their relative phases continuously change because of their different periods of oscillation. However, after 60 seconds they will all have executed an integral number of oscillations and be back in sync again at that instant, ready to repeat the dance.
This, I am reasonably sure, is how Steve Jobs intended iPads to be used. After all they are supposed to be versatile devices.
The video isn’t in English, but it doesn’t really matter.
Below is the text of a letter (well email actually) that I have sent to my MP. He is Tom Brake (Lib Dem) Carshalton & Wallington.
Mr. Brake,
I am writing to you as a constituent who believes that the purpose of the NHS bill is not to improve the National Health Service but to facilitate its systematic destruction.
Given that all the Royal Medical Colleges, and everyone who has thought about the NHS bill consider that it will be disastrous for the National Health Service and ultimately for the majority of the people in this country.
This is the introduction to a piece in the British Medical Journal:
“Entitlement to free health services in England will be curtailed by the Health and Social Care Bill currently before parliament. The bill sets out a new statutory framework that would abolish the duty of primary care trusts (PCTs) to secure health services for everyone living in a defined geographical area. New clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) will arrange provision of fewer government funded health services and determine the scope of these services independently of the secretary of state for health. They may delegate this decision to commercial companies. The bill also provides for health services to be arranged by local authorities, with provision for new charging powers for services currently provided free through the NHS (clauses 1, 12, 13, 17, and 49), and it will give the secretary of state an extraordinary power to exclude people from the health service. Taken together the measures would facilitate the transition from tax financed healthcare to the mixed financing model of the United States. We provide an analysis of the key legal reforms that will govern policy development and implementation if the bill is enacted.”
The full article can be found here I strongly recommend you read this.
As you can see the authors consider that the Bill will allow charging for NHS services currently provided free at he point of delivery and allow the exclusion of groups of people from receiving treatment under the NHS completely.
I would urge you read it consider the opinions set out in it and vote against the bill.
Regards
John Manderson
If you care about what this bill proposes, which in my opinion is the dismantling of the National Health Service and its replacement with something along the lines of the American health care model, I would urge you to write to your MP expressing your opposition.
If you aren’t sure who your MP is or how to contact them this link http://www.theyworkforyou.com/ will help you find them.
As Ben Goldacre (@bengoldacre) tweeted
NHS is a historical aberration, built at a time when ppl better than us gave a shit. When it goes, it won’t be rebuilt
Write to your MP especially if he or she is a Liberal Democrat. They are all seriously worried that they will be out of a job come the next election when the Labour supporters (like me) that have elected them since 1997 decide to vote Labour again – even if it does mean I end up with Tory MP.
A few facts to start with. Kielder Water is Britain’s largest man-made lake set in England’s largest man-made forest. The reservoir supplies water to Newcastle and the North East. The project which involved flooding a large part of the North Tyne valley started in the early 1970’s and was finally completed in 1982. The dam itself is surprisingly unobtrusive.
Kielder Dam
Today we went for a walk around a small part of the lake. This tree is a bit of an oddity in Kielder Forest, almost all the trees are conifers, but I liked it.
When we started out the lake was incredibly calm with reflections that were almost surreal.
The walk we did was about six miles in length. It was well marked and easy to follow without map. The packed shingle surface was easy to walk on. Surprisingly for a route chosen by mrsjohnm55 there was very little mud. Despite the lack of mud Mrsjohnm55 ploughs bravely on.
Other interesting features of the walk were what I can only describe as modern follies. The most interesting of which was “Freyas Cabin”
A company (art collective?) called Studio Weave designed and built “Freyas Cabin” and its companion “Robin’s Hut” which can be seen on the opposite shore.. The full story can be found on their website They made up a story about Freya and Robin and how they met which I quote below.
Freya and Robin
Not so long ago, not so very far from here, there lived a beautiful lady named Freya. Freya loved flowers. She loved the Wood Aven with its little strawberry flowers that smell like Christmas and protect against evil. She loved the Red Campion with their hoof-like petals stretching from the tips of magenta pods, decorated with tiny white curls. But most of all, she loved Foxgloves, tall figures dressed in soft bells, some in pink, some in white, and some spotted with the fingerprints of elves. Freya liked to think of the foxes ringing the bells to warn each other of danger and insects sheltering from the rain under their gentle parasols.
You could find Freya wandering across the moors wearing long dresses with big soft pockets full of flowers she’d collected. She carefully took her pickings home, and pressed them for keeping and to decorate everything around her.
Not so very far away from her, lived Robin. Robin lived in a wooden hut in the woodlands over the water from Freya. He spent his days walking through the woods, looking after the trees and the animals that lived in them. He liked climbing trees and building little wooden houses for the birds to lay their eggs in. He dashed about the forest playing swift and intelligent games with the deer and scrambled about helping the squirrels find their buried nuts.
Freya could see Robin across the water. She could see he was kind and careful with the trees and the animals and that he loved them as much as she loved the flowers. Mostly, he skipped about playing, but sometimes, Freya saw him standing, perhaps sadly, she thought, looking out over the water. She longed to be able to talk to him, to ask him if he was all right or what it was he was dreaming of. So one day, Freya decided to make Robin a gift of a wonderful cabin. She hoped that he would see the cabin from his wooden hut and then maybe he would make a raft or a boat and come to see it.
Over the next few weeks, Freya worked very hard to collect flowers and plants and small branches. She made a big flower press and carefully laid out her collection in the shape of a woodland, just like she imagined the one Robin lived in. For the walls, she arranged the strongest branches from thick to thin. And for the roof she made an enchanted forest ceiling with twisted branches tickling each other. She decorated the entrance with precious Foxgloves to invite the fairies in. Then she pressed everything tight together so they would be strong and crisp and last forever.
While she was making the cabin, she noticed that Robin spent more and more time dreamily looking across the water. She was thrilled for she thought he must be looking to see what she was up to. She was so excited that she went and collected as many tall, straight flowers as she could find and proudly balanced the cabin up on a thousand of the tallest straightest stems to be sure that Robin could see it properly. But Robin couldn’t see it properly; he couldn’t see it at all.
Freya lived on the South side of the lake, which meant that the sun’s rays lit up the landscape in front of her and she could see for miles. But Robin lived on the North of the lake, so when he looked towards the South the sun got in his eyes and all he could see was a golden blur above the lapping blue lake.
Actually, Robin was very fond of the golden blur and often stood admiring the hot fuzzy oranges and purples shimmer. It reminded him of an amazing place he had been told about when he was a little boy. He had heard the stories many times, that in the far North there is a magical place called Glimmerfell, where there are huge mountains pointing out above the clouds, covered with flowers growing from the rocks and the ice. Apparently, the flowers glow orange and purple because in Glimmerfell, it is always sunset. He found himself thinking of this place more and more, until eventually, one day, he decided to build a boat and set off to try to find it.
Of course, when Freya saw Robin collecting wood and beginning to build a boat, she was thrilled that he had seen that she had almost finished the cabin and was planning to row across the lake to see her. Over the next few days, Freya put the finishing touches onto the cabin and Robin built his boat and packed it with food for a long journey.
Then one morning, he untied the boat from its mooring, and set off. Freya watched expectantly as Robin rowed towards her. She felt she had never been so happy and excited in all her life. But after a short while, he seemed to be drifting away to the west and soon Freya realised that he wasn’t coming her way at all, but instead, was going in completely the opposite direction.
Freya couldn’t understand what she could have done so wrong. Not only did Robin not want to come and see the cabin she had made for him, he wanted to leave the lake completely. She sat down in the middle of the garden she’d planted by the cabin and began to cry. As Robin rowed further and further away, she became so upset, her tears turned into gold. She picked herself up and wrapped the cabin in the gold tears streaming from her eyes.
Meanwhile, as Robin was rowing away, he turned his head to look back at the lake he loved. He hoped everyone would be all right while he was gone. As he watched the familiar woodland slipping further and further away, knowing that he might not see his home for a long time, he noticed something glinting in the distance. He thought it must just be the sun in his eyes, but as he took one last glance, he saw it again, even brighter. He was so curious that he decided to row back and find out what it was. After all, he hadn’t gone too far yet.
As Robin approached the glimmering, it grew brighter and brighter and he rowed with all his might
As Robin approached the glimmering, it grew brighter and brighter and he rowed with all his might
As he approached the glimmering, it grew brighter and brighter and he rowed with all his might. Once he was quite near the shore he could see an unusual golden cabin that looked like it had a forest inside it. Then once he was very close, he could see that next to the cabin, someone was sitting and crying with her face buried in her dress. Robin quickly tied up his boat, rushed over, and gently swept the foxgloves so they sang soothingly. Freya lifted her head at the sound and saw Robin standing there with a concerned look on his face. A little embarrassed, she brushed the tears from her eyes and they fell like gold dew onto the surrounding grass. Robin offered his hand and she unruffled herself as he pulled her up. Seeing she was all right, Robin turned to the golden cabin. He was quite enchanted by it. Freya explained that she’d made it for him. Luckily, he had climbed inside for a better look just before she said this, so she didn’t see him blush!
Freya and Robin sat in the cabin all afternoon, talking about the trees and the flowers. Robin almost forgot he was planning to go to find Glimmerfell. He described to Freya, the cloud-collared mountains and the glowing ice-flowers. Freya was fascinated and asked him lots of questions he didn’t know the answers to because he hadn’t been there yet. Freya offered to lend Robin her flower press so he could collect some flowers to bring home. Robin said he wouldn’t know how to press the flowers properly and asked whether Freya would perhaps, like to go with him. Freya said she would love to.
So at sunset, having loaded Robin’s boat with some more food and Freya’s flower press, they set off on their adventure.
They didn’t leave very long ago, so they are still away adventuring, but if you can find them, you can see Robin’s wooden hut and the golden cabin that Freya made for him, facing each other across the lake, awaiting their return.
It is lovely area of the country and well worth a visit.
Update Sunday 04 March 2012
I have updated and modified this post, which was originally from my Android phone. For some reason it didn’t upload the images that I included. I have now added some images and added the story of Freya and Robin.
York has to be the most fascinating city in the United Kingdom. It has something to do with there having been a city here for around two thousand years. Every corner brings another building that has been around for at least five
hundred years. Some like the Abbey of St. Mary’s are in ruins ( thanks to Henry VIII). Others are remarkably well preserved.
The city walls date from medieval times and are still largely complete.
The best preserved building is York Minister. It took around two hundred and fifty years to build and was dedicated in 1472. It is the sixth cathedral to stand on the site.
The streets around the Minister are narrow and distinctly medieval in character.
After dark something almost magical happens as the town takes on a whole new dimension.
I have just read this article on sleep on the BBC website. The article suggests that our current habit of going to sleep for a solid eight hours (give or take an hour) is not natural and that our ancestors in pre-industrial times tended to sleep in two four-hour spells, first sleep, second sleep with a one or two-hour spell awake in between.
When we visited the Musée de la Grande Chatreuse last year, I found that this was the pattern that the Carthusian monks (whose lifestyle hasn’t changed much since the c10th) followed. They wake up during the night to say the office of Matins. Of course unless you are a Carthusian monk you don’t have to pray:
A doctor’s manual from 16th Century France even advised couples that the best time to conceive was not at the end of a long day’s labour but “after the first sleep”, when “they have more enjoyment” and “do it better”.
What I do know, is that when I was at sea working on traditional watches, four hours on eight hours off and sleeping twice per day usually about four hours at a time, I normally felt better rested than I do now sleeping in a solid eight-hour block.
If you type “jonathan tiernan locke doping” into Google my blog comes out near the top of the first page. This is because on my Home Page there are two posts that mention Jonathan Tiernan-Locke and one that discusses Jan Ulrich’s recent two-year ban. The Ulrich post talks about doping.
I just want to make it clear that I do not suspect Jonathan Tiernan-Locke of doping.
Last weekend Jonathan Tiernan-Locke, won two stages and the overall at Tour Méditerranéen. There was a suspicion that he was slightly lucky and that the shortened stages (due to snow) had somehow helped him. This weekend was the Tour du Haut Var a two-day stage race held in the hills above Cannes and St-Tropez. The stage lengths are around the 200km mark and some of the bigger boys came out to play as well.
A breakaway dominated Stage 1 from Draguignan – La Croix Valmer (189.2 km). Two of them held on to the finish. Jonathan Tiernan-Locke (JT-L from now on to save typing) jumped clear of the peleton on the finishing climb to finish in third place, six seconds behind, and set himself up for today.
Stage 2 from Fréjus – Fayence (205.4 km) was a bit of a brute. Five cols and a viciously steep final kilometre.
The early part of the race had the inevitable breakaway, but JT-L’s team Endura Racing and the Bretagne-Schuller (who had the race lead) with a bit of help from Garmin-Barracuda and BMC rode tempo until it all came back together at the penultimate climb. JT-L started to attack at this point, not full throttle as it was too far out, but hard enough to thin the peleton out and get a feel for who had the legs. This caused a break to form of about ten riders and that is the point at which the video starts.
Three things stood out on the video, when an attack went from the break he didn’t panic, he just settled in, recovered and made sure that he was ready for the final climb, the second thing was just how fast he comes up the hill, The third was that he was going so quickly he almost overcooked an uphill hairpin bend.
The Haut Var website has a video of most of Stage 2 and a full review of Stage 1. Commentary is (obviously) in French. If you have a couple of hours to waste, watch it. Near the beginning of the video the presenter interviewed the great French cyclist Raymond Poulidor. Even though my French is not that great, I understood enough to know that he thinks that JT-L is the real thing. Stephen Roche is also convinced. See this from his Twitter feed.
I know that Philippe Gilbert is probably saving his uphill sprinting for the Fléche Wallon and Liege-Bastionge-Leige, and similarly with some of the other big names in the field, but it is still a very impressive start to the season. It should also get Endura invites to some bigger races. I for one would like to see what they can do in some of the hillier classics.
Robert Marchand has just broken the World (age-group) Record for the distance cycled in one hour.
The full story can be read here. Yesterday (Feb 17th) he rode 24.251km in the hour on the track at Aigle in Switzerland. He celebrated his 100th birthday on Nov 26 last year.
After completing the ride he said:
“For the last five years I have decided not to go for rides of more than 100km,” he went on, adding with supreme understatement, “There is no point going overboard. I want to keep cycling for some time yet.”
On second thoughts maybe I won’t try breaking the record. I’m not all that sure I could beat it now and am half his age.
A Scotsman in Suburbia 